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Can a government agency block criticism by claiming copyright infringement? Sounds a bit ridiculous but it is happening. The NSA is effectively stopping one small business owner from criticism, claiming that by using its name he has infringed on their copyright.
Can they do that?
More and more is the Constitution is being ignored with impunity, these days. Oh, it's heen going on for quite a while, but new dimensions are being added to the issue. It's amazing how a end around of such simplicity can be used to subvert a complex document, such as our Constitution. Something like this article seems almost...silly....in its content, but, the underlying precedent being set has serious ramifications.
The US judge handling the Megaupload case noted today that it may never be tried due to a procedural error, a comment that has sparked the anger of Megaupload’s founder. Kim Dotcom is furious with the US Government for destroying his businesses and rendering hundreds of people unemployed. According to Dotcom the case is the result of “corruption on the highest political level, serving the interests of the copyright extremists in Hollywood.”
Kim Dotcom Releases New Raid Footage Captured By In-House CCTV
quote:
At the start of 2012, New Zealand police embarked on what was almost certainly the most heavy-handed police action ever carried out against someone accused of copyright infringement.
if this was the government demanding the shirts removal and it was clear that the design was a parody then this guy would have my absolute support but the article gives no evidence of any interaction from the government. from my own personal experience in similar situations i think that it's just zazzle covering their butt against any possible trademark/copyright action ( corporate or government ). from the article:
Unfortunately, it appears that your product, The NSA, contains content that is in conflict with one or more of our acceptable content guidelines. We will be removing this product from the Zazzle Marketplace shortly.
“Policy Notes: Design contains an image or text that may infringe on intellectual property rights. We have been contacted by the intellectual property right holder and we will be removing your product from Zazzle’s Marketplace due to infringement claims.”
and from the guy selling the shirt:
"So I’m not sure if that was subsequently a blanket policy that Zazzle themselves put up because they don’t want to deal with the hassle and they didn’t want to spend time interpreting each thing knowing they would run into problems or if they were plugged into NSA legal and they were watching things as they go,” says McCall."
if this was the government demanding the shirts removal and it was clear that the design was a parody then this guy would have my absolute support but the article gives no evidence of any interaction from the government. from my own personal experience in similar situations i think that it's just zazzle covering their butt against any possible trademark/copyright action ( corporate or government ). from the article:
Unfortunately, it appears that your product, The NSA, contains content that is in conflict with one or more of our acceptable content guidelines. We will be removing this product from the Zazzle Marketplace shortly.
“Policy Notes: Design contains an image or text that may infringe on intellectual property rights. We have been contacted by the intellectual property right holder and we will be removing your product from Zazzle’s Marketplace due to infringement claims.”
and from the guy selling the shirt:
"So I’m not sure if that was subsequently a blanket policy that Zazzle themselves put up because they don’t want to deal with the hassle and they didn’t want to spend time interpreting each thing knowing they would run into problems or if they were plugged into NSA legal and they were watching things as they go,” says McCall."
Valid point, however, the comment in bold does make claims. Also the agency in question has a real tendency for maintaining a low profile. I think this being arbitrarily decided would seem strange.
Also the last part you quote appears out of context when you remove the immediately preceding comments. "Dan McCall, the owner of Liberty Maniacs spoke with me via Skype and says there were multiple items dealing with the NSA that were pulled down from Zazzle. “In terms of shirts, two, and then maybe four or five bumper stickers. Basically anything remotely relating to the NSA was taken down. So I’m not sure if that was subsequently".....
Also says this.
"So to be clear, McCall was using the NSA logo, the NSA claimed copyright infringement and Zazzle.com pulled the content down."
Can a government agency block criticism by claiming copyright infringement? Sounds a bit ridiculous but it is happening. The NSA is effectively stopping one small business owner from criticism, claiming that by using its name he has infringed on their copyright.
Can they do that?
You cannot use US government trademarks or the logos of US government agencies without permission. For example, you cannot use an agency logo or trademark on your social media page, or on t-shirts. Had the owner left the NSA logo off the t-shirts, he could print whatever message he wanted. It is not the text that violates the copyright law, it is the NSA logo that violates the copyright law.
You cannot use US government trademarks or the logos of US government agencies without permission. For example, you cannot use an agency logo or trademark on your social media page, or on t-shirts. Had the owner left the NSA logo off the t-shirts, he could print whatever message he wanted. It is not the text that violates the copyright law, it is the NSA logo that violates the copyright law.
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